Full speed ahead for former Viking

Lamont Beard might have been the fastest mall cop in America. The former Edison High speedster got a job to cover some of his expenses while redshirting with the Sacramento City College track and field team last season, but now he's back in the fast lane.

Lamont Beard might have been the fastest mall cop in America. The former Edison High speedster got a job to cover some of his expenses while redshirting with the Sacramento City College track and field team last season, but now he's back in the fast lane.

Beard traded in his badge for a new pair of track shoes and is proving to be one of California's top community college sprinters. He will compete in four events at the California Community College Athletic Association State Championships on Saturday at Cerritos College in Norwalk after posting personal bests in the 100- and 200-meter dashes at last week's Northern California championships.

Beard recorded a time of 10.41 seconds in the 100 and 20.97 in the 200, finishing second in both races. He also helped his team win the 400-meter and 1,600 relays. The Panthers set a College of San Mateo stadium record of 40.15 seconds in the 400 relay.

"I'm right on the edge of being really successful, and I feel like over the next year or two - or hopefully even this year - I'll be able to fulfill some of my dreams," Beard said.

One of Beard's goals is to qualify for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials, which will be held June 21-July 1 in Eugene, Ore. He can earn an automatic bid with a time of 10.18 or a provisional bid with a time of 10.28 in the 100. In the 200, the automatic qualifying standard is 20.55 and the provisional standard is 20.75.

Beard concedes that those 100 times might be unattainable in the next month, but given some technical adjustments he's made in recent weeks, the provisional standard in the 200 doesn't seem as daunting.

"I'm confident that I'll hit that (mark) either in the state meet or sometime this summer," Beard said. "The 200 has always been my best race, so I honestly think I can run a 20.6 at the state meet because I'm comfortable with what I'm doing, and instead of thinking about what I'm doing, I can just do it."

Pitcher Katie Cotta will lead the No. 1-ranked and top-seeded Concordia softball team into the NAIA national championships this week in Gulf Shores, Ala. The Eagles (54-3) will open pool play against Talladega (Ala.) at noon today.

Cotta, a former Brookside Christian and Linden high school standout who went 40-2 at Delta College in 2011, is 19-0 with a 1.01 ERA and 220 strikeouts in 1171/3 innings for Concordia. The Eagles set an NAIA record with a 44-game winning streak earlier this season.

Former St. Mary's standout Barry Enright went 4-1 with a 3.14 ERA in his first eight starts for the Triple-A Reno Aces. Enright is trying to get back to the big leagues after spending parts of the 2010 and 2011 seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks. His strikeout-to-walk ratio (24/21) isn't as good as it has been in seasons past (86/42 in Reno last season), but opponents are hitting just .230 against him.

Tokay graduate David Cooper is having another strong season in the Toronto Blue Jays' minor league system. Cooper hit .300 with 12 doubles, a triple, four home runs and 28 RBI with a .853 OPS in his first 35 games for the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s. Cooper hit .211 in 27 games for the Blue Jays last summer but remains one of Toronto's top prospects.